As much as the American public is shocked by the ongoing DOGE revelations of our abuse by the Federal government, betrayal by spiritual leaders is infinitely worse.
When I was in Catholic graduate studies, our instructors would alert us to incoming papal encyclicals. Excitement would build, delectatory anticipation of what Pope John Paul might say. When it was finally promulgated, it would be all the buzz during class breaks, as we sieved out insights about suffering, women, the elderly, and always, always Jesus Christ.
Now I look back on that innocent spiritual intoxication the way I remember long-ago family Christmas celebrations when the parents and grandparents were still alive: a time of confident happiness because the elders were trustworthy and strong.
You know where I’m going: that confidence is blasted all to smithereens. I still watch for new pronouncements from the Vatican, but now I do so with a sense of dread and sorrow. At best, you can sift through documents and find one or two things to keep, allowing the rest to mercifully blur. There is no joy and little insight.
What a sad and unnecessary devolution, for people to have developed a hard shell to protect themselves from the pope and those bishops who run his playbook. Remember in 2018 when the USCCB decided to take no action on McCarrick because the pope encouraged them to wait, and then nothing ever came of it? The uproar receded, McCarrick was safely tucked away in a remote country refuge, and no one ever took action, confirming the impression that the bishops protect predators in their ranks, no matter how nightmarish.
As much as the American public is shocked by the ongoing DOGE revelations of our abuse by the Federal government, betrayal by spiritual leaders is infinitely worse. We are forced to defend ourselves against the very ones entrusted with our spiritual care.
We aren’t born with natural defenses against our parents; we are divinely designed to love and honor them. No more are we equipped to defend ourselves against priests, bishops, and the pope in the spiritual realm. We are not meant to fear them; we are meant to trust them. As prelates have abused our trust, repeatedly, they have themselves created the suspicion with which we now regard them.
More: https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/bishops-burning-bridges
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